St. Louis area police and local residents are tense and emotional after a police officer fatally wounded a young Black teen.

The shooting occurred early Saturday afternoon in the Ferguson area, a city a few miles north of downtown St. Louis. While concrete details are scarce, the victim, identified as Michael Brown, was fatally wounded after an unnamed officer fired multiple shots. Early reports indicate the eighteen-year-old victim was unarmed and walking in the street in his neighborhood. Witnesses on the scene said the boy’s body laid on the ground uncovered while his family stood by, including a man said to be Brown’s stepfather, who wear a sign that read “Ferguson police just executed my unarmed son!!!”

Per the AP, St. Louis police spokesman Brian Schellman stated “a couple hundred” residents of the area descended on the scene, allegedly yelling “kill the police” and officers said they thought they heard gunshots from the crowd. In response, law enforcement from surrounding areas to came to the scene to assist. There were no reports of additional injuries.

Update: On Sunday morning, St. Louis County Police held a press conference to address Saturday’s fatal shooting by an officer. Per St. Louis’ KMOV:

“According to St. Louis County Police Chief Belmar, an unarmed 18-year-old, Mike Brown, was walking with a friend in the middle of Canfield when an officer attempted to exit his vehicle. Police said Brown pushed the officer back into the police car. According to police, Brown then entered the officer’s vehicle and a struggle ensued over the officer’s weapon. Police said during the physical altercation a shot was fired inside of the car.

“The officer and Brown exited the vehicle where Belmar said the fatal shooting occurred. Belmar noted he did not have an exact number of times that Brown was shot but said he was shot ‘more than just a couple of times, but not much more.'”

The story varies slightly from the depiction given by social media and witnesses at the scene, who indicate Brown was running away with his hands up and early reports that indicate there were nine or ten shots fired, including some after the teen was already wounded and down.

“Witnesses to the shooting identified the victim as Michael Brown, 18. They say he was walking in the middle of a street with a friend, Dorin Johnson, when a Ferguson officer drove up and ordered them to the sidewalk. Johnson said they told him they were a minute away from their destination and then they would be out of the street. After a verbal confrontation, witness Piaget Crenshaw said the officer got out of his car and fired a shot. Both teens ran, she said, and another shot was fired. Johnson hid behind a car, but said his friend stopped after a second shot was fired at him. Crenshaw and Johnson say the teen held up his hands to show he did not have a weapon, however the officer fired at him two more times and he collapsed and died in the street.”

Update, August 11: The family has asked that people stop sharing the photo of Mike Brown’s deceased body. To respect their wishes, we have removed the photo.

The AP reports that the FBI has taken over the investigation into the shooting. The family of Michael Brown retained the services of civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, most known for representing the family of Trayvon Martin.

It is funny how the police car dash cams are always running when it favors the police officer, but it never is when it would favor the victim.
I do not believe the cops story. What justification would Mike Brown have to just start trying to take the officers gun? Or even trying to attack an officer while unarmed? It just does not add up.
Also, The eyewitness accounts are completely different from the officers story. Something smells foul about this story.

Cops just don’t GAF. Eric Gardner. Tanya Weyker. That idiot cop in Jersey who doesn’t follow the constitution because Obama apparently doesn’t. All within the past week or so. Tough to gage context here, but this just seems like another avoidable situation. SMH.

Look, no disrespect, but this excuse is old. Black folk DO get mad on black on black crime. This excuse is the same excuse bigoted white folk give, so please, do not assume that your own people (my assumption) are simply looking over the fact that their brothers and sisters are killing each other over shit fit for a vanity slave.

i dont understand why black on black crime is always brought up as an issue. EVERY race kills their race at the same rate as black people. people are usually killed by people they know or people in their community. even though its not right, stop using that as an excuse.

The coon train is never late pulling from the station, ever. The death of black people ALWAYS upsets me. It’s very frustrating however when it is at the hands of those who are supposed serve and protect our community. Instead, in my experience, and what these sort of news reports continue to show us, they really on some bullshit.

What context do you need for a body like this on the floor? Unless the cop’s life is being threatened, it should never have gotten this far. If the teen was truly unarmed, then shooting him dead is unnecessary force, and that’s all fact.

From those two accounts (in addition to the “official” account given at the PD’s press conf this morning), it seems like the following transpired:
* Officer tells kids to get out of the street
* Kids respond in a way that the officer did not appreciate
* Officer tries to approach the situation in a physical matter
* Kid fights back and a brief scuffle ensues
* During the scuffle in/at the car, the officer fires at least two shots
* Both kids run, but the officer gives chase and fires more shots
* Once the kid is hit, he kneels down with his hands up
* Officer finished the kid off with more shots.

Again, this is just what I gathered from statements from eyewitness, friend who was with the victim at the time of the murder, and the police statement. The only indisputable FACT is that an unarmed kid was MURDERED in broad daylight…in the middle of the street…by an officer whose primary duty is to serve and protect our community.

This is crazy I was having an argument about this today cuz ppl on FB keep posting videos of dumb niggas fighting cops, resisting arrest, shit that leads to more police on the scene. I hate that ppl try to lump those fools in with the true police brutality and murder from crooked cops. Stop that shit, they aren’t the same. it’s ppl out here really being abused and killed by cops and your dumb ass friend that broke the law then tried to knuckle up isn’t the same.
Also combat jack and Andrew shultz from Charlamagne the gods podcast got into on twitter today over nypd treatment of blacks and browns.
It’s like when someone knowingly falsely accuses someone of rape they are spitting in the faces of actual rape victims. I hate that shit and I hope this young mans family gets justice. It’s harder for real victims to get justice when Idiots try to piggyback off real tragedy. Eric Gardner was murdered. This appears so far to be the same.

@Lo Those articles don’t tell me why the cops where in that area, why they made contact with the victim, what happened when they made contact with the victim, etc…when those come out, then I’ll get angry, or not.

@Michael H
I work at Wal-Mart, they have cameras everywhere (they don’t really use them though unless some shit goes down. They never watch for customers just employees.) So if what they’re saying is true then it would show up on tape. And if that man was shot down over a toy I hope somebody kill the officer in front of his precinct.
Also there is war coming. This justice system is about to cause a lot of Christopher Doners to go crazy and when shit hits the fan everything will be justified.

Sick Sad World where lives can be taken and we argue over whether it was justified. What justification can you possibly present to me where a young man is unarmed and somehow deserves to be shot 8 times???? Mf’ers don’t even shoot uncontrollable animals 8 times, we tranquilize them! I pray for the families of the lives lost, but even more so I pray for the heartless, inhumane people that took their lives. Rest In Peace to the Angels, and may the Lord help remove the evil from the hearts of their murderers. Amen

@Gabriel Kitchen I think he’s trying to point out that people with weapons make questionable decisions and it happens far too often. Of course, like your said, individuals should be held accountable for their actions. But incidents like these happen way too regularly not to be a sign of a deeper issue.

@texasranger @Gabriel Kitchen while guns don’t help a bad situation, most people who carry on a regular basis will tell you that having a gun is a much bigger deterrent than anything else. If you have a gun, you’ve run thru your mind a million times what the consequences are. So, when you end up in what could be a bad situation, you try your best to remove yourself from it before drawing your weapon.

@John Gotty that’s a good point, and I don’t think guns are evil, its just that in America they tend to fall in the wrong hands more often than other places. Also thats a surprisingly even handed and nuanced take from Gawker. But your speaking from the perspective of a rational gun owner, not a cop with a paranoid hero complex, or a crazy person who decides the only way to solve his problems is through irrational violence. There are no black and white solutions to the problem, I was just expressing sadness that this kind of thing seems to happen more often than it should.

Although it’s not the only problem, one problem is most aren’t properly trained in how to use firearms.

I was never raised in fear of them. instead, i saw both sides of my family using and carrying them for totally diff reasons. What they both did consistently was treat their weapons w/ proper respect. A lot of people don’t have that respect for the true power of weapons.

@John Gotty another good point, guns are just tools, tools that need to be respected and understood. I don’t have a ton of experience with guns, but in using chainsaws and powertools I was always taught immediately to be hyper aware of my surroundings, and just how much damage these things can inflict. It seems these cops don’t even know how powerful their batons are, otherwise they wouldnt have to go right to the gun

It’s not out of the question to have two or three squad cars pull people over to address their tail light issues. I’ve even had to deal with it in the middle of rush hour while driving home from work. It’s the violent black/latino/ethnic youth stereotype that keeps people acting like this…